Soft Skills
Jessica Burns
Mike Baker
John Klinger
Definition
 Soft Skills- refer to the cluster of
personality traits, social graces, facility
with language, personal habits,
friendliness, and optimism that mark
people to varying degrees
Definition
 Hard Skills- the technical requirements of
a job (assembly, labor, etc)
American Businesses
 Beginning to adopt soft skills as a major
component of required skills for a job
 Blue collar jobs are moving overseas due
to lower costs
 America moving more towards service
industry
Customer Service and
Orientation
 Focusing more on people than processes
 “Today’s service economy and ascendance
of work teams in large organizations puts a
new premium on people skills and
relationship-building” Lori Kocon- human
resources expert
 Soft skills = People skills=Street Smarts
Soft
 Comes from European Social Fund
project
 Soft outcomes-outcomes from training,
support or guidance which are unlike
traditional outcomes, for instance,
qualifications and jobs which can not be
measured directly or tangibly
 Balanced Scorecard (virtually impossible to
attain numbers)
Soft continued
 Soft indicators- means by which we can
measure whether the outcomes have
been achieved
 Indicate acquisition of progress towards an
outcome, how we can put a number on
measurement of accomplished goals
Common Soft Skills
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Strong work ethic
Positive attitude
Good communication skills
Time management abilities
Problem-solving skills
Acting as a team player
Self-confidence
Ability to accept and learn from criticism
Flexibility/adaptability
Working well under pressure
 Strong work ethic-Are you motivated and
dedicated to getting the job done, now
matter what? Will you be conscientious
and do your best work?
 Positive attitude-Are you optimistic and
upbeat? Will you generate good energy
and good will
 Good communication skills- Are you both
verbally articulate and a good listener?
Can you make your case and express
needs in a way that builds bridges with
colleagues, customers and vendors
 Time management abilities- Do you know
how to prioritize tasks and work on a
number of different projects at once? Will
you use your time on the job wisely?
 Problem-solving skills-are you
resourceful and able to creatively solve
problems that will inevitably arise? Will
you take ownership of problems or leave
them for someone else?
 Acting as a team player- Will you work
well in groups and teams? Will you be
cooperative and take a leadership role
when appropriate?
 Self-confidence-Do yo truly believe you
can do the job? Will you project a sense
of calm and inspire confidence in others?
 Ability to accept and learn from criticismWill you be able to handle criticism? Are
you coachable and open to learning and
growing as a person and a professional?
 Flexibility/Adaptability- Are you able to
adapt to new situations and challenges?
Will you embrace change and be open to
new idea?
 Working well under pressure- Can you
handle the stress that accompanies
deadlines and crises? Will you be able to
do your best work and come through in a
pinch?
Conclusions
 More and more businesses are
considering soft skills as an important job
criteria
 An increase in service industry
emphasizes the need for soft skills
 Soft skills are used in personal and
professional life
 Questions